All year round, students at more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide raise money for Camp Kesem.

They belong to individual Camp Kesem chapters, and provide free summer camps for children and teens who have either lost a parent to cancer, have a parent or guardian undergoing cancer treatment, or whose parent is a cancer survivor.

The camps are held at established Girl Scout and other campgrounds, and are for youth of every racial, ethnic and faith background.

According to the Camp Kesem website, Stanford University student Iris Rave had been a life-long camper and believed in summer camp’s transformative powers. She founded the first Camp Kesem chapter in 2000 working with four other student leaders.

The group chose the word Kesem, which means “magic” in Hebrew, because the students’ goal was to bring magic to families coping with cancer, the website said.

More recently at the University of Pittsburgh, student Meghan Criswell realized there was no Camp Kesem chapter on campus, and worked to create one with a team of volunteers.

Last summer, they sponsored a Camp Kesem at Camp Crestfield near Slippery Rock for 18 children and teens, and hope to have 30 at their summer, 2019 camp.

“Camp Kesem is one of the greatest organizations I’ve ever been a part of,” Ms. Criswell said earlier this month. “It’s like a second family I didn’t really know I needed.”

The Pitt chapter provides bus transportation for campers from Pittsburgh to the camp, she said. Once there, campers canoe, swim, do crafts, sing songs and play kickball in a mud pit.

No therapy is provided, but the camps provide a safe environment where kids can talk about their parents’ cancer and how it is affecting them during downtime, Ms. Criswell said.

Campers aren’t required to talk about the cancer, however.

Josh Somers has been involved with the Carnegie Mellon University chapter of Camp Kesem for three years.

He said the group has raised close to $13,000 with a total goal of $65,000 in order to support 65 children.

"I believe that Camp Kesem provides a certain group of children, who face similar challenges and who have gone through similar hardships, many supportive avenues," he said.

"Our week-long overnight camp allows the kids [to] be themselves, have fun with other kids, and even have a chance to interact with other kids that are going through similar challenges," he wrote in an email.

"Camp Kesem is a second home for many campers and year after year kids can’t wait to come back to camp and see their friends and counselors," he wrote. "At Camp Kesem everyone is family and that is the best way I can describe it."

Pitt Camp Kesem chapter co-founder Bridget Trimble said the camp is a place where campers “were supported by people who knew what they were going through as well as having a lot of fun.”

“It’s a little oasis away from parents’ health problems,” Ms. Trimble said.

Cancer survivor Olga Koroly of Monroeville, who is in remission, liked the fact that the camp is free, and that it enabled her daughters, ages 8 and 12, to get out in nature without electronic devices.

Prior to her cancer diagnosis, she used to hike with the girls. Mrs. Koroly said she wants them to have the kind of childhood she did, and that their time using computer devices is carefully limited.

She said when her own father was diagnosed with cancer when she was in high school, there was no place to express feelings about what was happening.

Mrs. Koroly signed her daughters up for camp online after showing them online videos from the camps to see if they were interested.

The parents of prospective participants can sign them up for the next University of Pittsburgh Camp Kesem, which will run from June 30 to July 5, by emailing pitt.outreach@campkesem.org, or by going to the following website: kesem.force.com

The group raised $11,515 for Camp Kesem on Giving Tuesday earlier in the school year.

The Pitt chapter’s next big fundraiser is its Make The Magic event on April 5, a night where the students host community members to learn more about Camp Kesem, provide dinner, have campers and their parents speak about their experiences, and raise funds for the organization.

For more information or to sign up, email pitt.mtm@campkesem.org A separate link to donate to the program is https://donate.kesem.org/campaign/friends-of-camp-kesem-at-university-of-pittsburgh-fy-2019/c200264

This year, Carnegie Mellon's Camp Kesem will be held Aug. 11 - 17 at YMCA Camp Y-Noah in Clinton, Ohio (Full address: 815 Mt. Pleasant Road, Clinton, OH 44216). For more information: https://campkesem.org/carnegiemellon/

Anne Cloonan, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First Published: January 31, 2019, 4:47 p.m.